Evaluation of Inappropriate Drugs Prescription for Elderly Patients by Tabriz General Practitioners According to Beers Criteria in 2019

Prescribing medication for the elderly is an important health issue. In this study, the status of prescribing inappropriate drugs for the elderly in general practitioners prescriptions was investigated.

Methods & Materials: 

The sample size consisted of 16842 prescriptions of general practitioners belongs to two insurance systems (Social Insurance and Health Insurance Organizations) in Tabriz city during 2019. Among the sample, 1500 prescriptions were evaluated for adults 65 years and older. The Beers criterion (version 2019) was used to assess inappropriate medications and suggestion of their alternatives if needed.

The mean number of drugs in each prescription was 3.93±1.5 and the average of inappropriate drugs in each prescription was 0.74±0.8. Polypharmacy was 32.6%, and 53.9% of the prescriptions had at least one inappropriate medication. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, analgesics and antihistamines were the most inappropriate prescribed drug groups for the elderly (24.2, 21.4 and 10.9%, respectively). The most common inappropriate prescription medications were Adult cold, Diclofenac, Glibenclamide, Ketorolac and Diphenhydramine, respectively.

The results showed that about 54% of the prescriptions by general practitioners for elderly people contained inappropriate medications and polypharmacy was present in about one third of the prescriptions. In order to improve this condition, it is necessary to modify the educational methods of medical students and appropriate training and continuous retraining courses in the elderly medicine field will be provided for the students and general practitioners. Moreover, supervisions by Ministry of Health and Medical Council of Iran can play an important role in improving the current situation.